Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles and Extraordinary Adventures

Mandarin Oranges are in season and have been a favorite fruit of mine for decades. They peel with ease and are a sweet treat.

I was inspired to create an orange Julius favored smoothie, similar to the ones I used to get at the mall. YUM! This smoothie is now a staple when Mandarin Oranges are in season.

Recipe:

Serves 3-4

Place the following ingredients in a blender, blend and enjoy!

4 to 5 Mandarin Oranges

3 frozen bananas

¼ c coconut flakes

1 c water

1 tsp chia seeds

Pinch cardamom

Optional: ¼ c greek yogurt

I have a saying, “There is a Reason it’s In Season” and the Placer County Mandarin Orange has scientific data backing the mantra to eat local and in season.

California Placer County Mandarins have been studied by the USDA for their natural decongestant and allergy relief properties from synephrine. The data from the recent study showed that Placer Mandarins had six times more synephrine than oranges! How interesting to consider Mandarins ripen in the late fall, providing relief from the common cold, allergy symptoms and congestion – when a lot of people get sick.

“Every time I ate them, I felt so much better and my sniffles went away. But you can’t say there is something special about them unless you have the data” said Joanne Neft, Placer agriculture advocate and author of “Placer County: Real Food from Farmers Markets, Recipes and Menus for Every Week of the Year”, who raised the funds for the study.

Just imagine ALL the health benefits of that small orange jewl with six times more synephrine than oranges!

In addition to being a natural decongestant each sweet Owari Satsuma Mandarin Orange provides:

When you blend those nutrients with the good stuff in banana, chia seed, and coconut flakes you get an awesome health promoting smoothie .

Note: The frozen banana creates a creamy texture when blended. They are very easy to buy in bulk and store in Tupperware in your freezer for convenient use. Make sure you remove the peel and preferably wait until the bananas are ripe prior to freezing.

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed this recipe post. Feel free to leave a comment with your favorite way to enjoy the delicious Mandarin Orange. Please share this post with your friends and eat some mandarins!

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You are enough. You are perfect just the way you are. With the bumps and bruises, with the beauty, with all you don’t like…love yourself deeper, you are special.

Yes, You Are Enough. The statement above was a facebook post I made recently. It seemed I needed to remind myself of that fact – we are all special, all on this planet for a special purpose. We may have periods of self judgment and self doubt, but still those thoughts are unique to you and special.

It is easy to be hard on ourselves – our worst critic. In my creative mind, I always have new ideas and get excited over the new idea. New, new, new appears shiny and sexy and the old idea appears stale, left to the back burner to rot.

I must thrive on that internal feeling, “geez you should of finished “x” before starting “y” and ending up with “z” Zero. My goodness how that negative self talk that works its way to sabotage even the little success.

Stop that! Cultivate some self love and be your own biggest supporter.

One powerful exercise I found helpful came from Marie Forleo (her thing is to teach woman to be rich, happy and hot – I highly recommend her).

On a blank sheet of paper make a big T. On the top write what you want. In the left column free flow write why you think you can not do or have what you want. Once you think you have all of reasons it can’t work, keep digging for a few minutes and keep writing.

Now cross each one out, with a bold strike-through and write next Total B.S. next to each reason. All of your excuses will become powerless.

You are enough. You can do what deeply desire most.

You can stop the negative self talk and move forward with supportive beliefs.

Go for it.

It may not be fun or easy. But you are worth it.

You will see that all the reasons you think you can’t, are reasons that you came up with.

You can create a different story. You are in control of your life. You are whole, perfect and complete.

This post was inspired to share some of my inner feelings. The goal is to feel good. I want you to feel better, no matter what is going on- you can feel better.

I can tell you. You are worth it. You are special.

To remove a negative voice inside, you have to take action toward how you do want to feel. Please ask yourself, “How do I? and How can I figure this out?” more than you tell yourself what is not working! Try the “T List Exercise” and let me know how it worked for you.

Please leave a comment below to share how you remove negative un-supportive thoughts.

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Tis’ the season to be sipping on warm tea and expressing our gratitude. It’s also the time of year we buy gifts for family, friends, co-workers, and ourselves (selfish elves).

Here are some healthy items I recommend for you and your loved. The things I picked out to include in the following list are items I personally love or would love to have. The gift guide include 8 -10 items in 6 Categories: Good Kitchen Equipment, Bold Books and Journals, Pure Food, Health Supplies, Beauty Supplies, and Adventure/Fun. To make it easy for you I included links and current prices on items.

If I could name just one machine that has changed my meals the most it would be the vitamix Blender. I love this machine for making smoothies and use it everyday. I have even brought it with me traveling for smoothies in the hotel and once outside a gas station! While I use the Vitamix the most for smoothies – I can not forgot almond milk. We make fresh almond milk 3 times a week. I just used it for the second time today for a butternut squash soup. Food pours out of with extra YUM! when its fully blended. It is a large investment, but really worth it. My brother had the Blendtec and switched over to Vitamix. What a BIG present of health that would be under the tree!

It is the best dehydrator around. This piece of kitchen equipment is not something I use everyday, but when I do BIG BATCHES of homemade kale chips, raw crackers, fruit roll ups, apple chips, etc… I recommend the 9 tray, so you can do big batches at once. It is a wonderful tool to preserve seasonal food and make healthy snacks. One disadvantage, the baby is huge and takes up tons of space. We store ours in the garage and bring it in for running.

I have decided that all you really need in the kitchen (for basic survival) is a good cutting board and sharp knife. It welcomes you. It helps you create space and prepare your delicious food. And a side bonus, if you’re a foodie like me, nice cutting boards help your pictures turn out better! My father got me a locally made cutting board with gorgeous colors last year for Xmas. I love it.

This baby helps so much when making pickles or anything you want to make uniform. Great for making apple or yam chips. It’s nice how you can very the slice size. I have even made zucchini noodles with mine. Make perfect slices of anything!

I got my brother a set a Ball Jars in the past for Xmas. I use them for sprouting, storing seeds and dry good in the pantry and storing left over liquids in the fridge. Always nice to have glass storage! I don’t think you can ever have enough jars around.

Colorful, creative, sisterhood magic awaits you. I suppose it is the results that speak the most. This yearbook has helped me plan and release some of my biggest dreams. Launching the Sproutology Green Thumb membership and now getting a book on kindle become real life experiences when I use her guidance. Gotta love the 3 MITs. (That’s Most Important Tasks, everyday 3 things and keep growing!)

The recipes, the pictures, the inspiration to use local food from Placer County Farmers Market, oh how I adore this book. I love how they pair food for the meal plans that compliment each other so well. Salmon and cucumber salad in the summer is now a staple dinner.

This book is based on Ayurvedic Science and has some real tasty meals. I think it is a great resource to help you find foods that are good for your body. Furthermore, you grasp not all foods are meant for everyone and some body types do much better with certain types of foods. I personally enjoy more root vegetables (yams and beets) knowing they help ground me.

Another Classic. I adapt most of the recipes that I use in here and primarily use it as a starting point. For example making lemon bars and switching coconut butter for butter, or chocolate chip cookies and I switch out white flour and use spelt flour. This pictures and instructions are great for basic skill and fine food prep.

I got this book for my mother (kinda so I could reference it) last year as a gift hoping she would make canned pears, jam and jellies again. Unfortunately, I have yet to see her use…but I still made pickles from homegrown cucumbers

15. Sproutology ( $ 19.97)

The book list would not be complete without me giving a plug for my first book Sprouotlogy: The Ultimate Home Sprouting Guide. I released this book in 2010 to show people my sprouting secrets and share recipes from my kitchen and some of my favorite raw food advocates. Most of the recipes are raw vegan. I am running a Holiday Special that gets you the book and 12 video modules at half price.

17. Nutiva Organic Chia Seeds, 12-Ounce Bag
(5 and half bucks on Amazon!) A seed of its own rank. Chia seeds are mucilaginous, which means they get a jelly coating when soaked in a liquid. They are not really used for sprouting – but make powerful addition to your smoothie or simply added to water with lemon for a healthy energy drink. I could go on about why I love chia seeds, but this post is already getting long. Check out an older post about chia seeds benefit here.

I am a huge kale chip fan and not sure what I would do if a case of these kale chips came for Christmas. I would need a huge glass of spring water for sure! I love kale chips and this brand from Austin Texas is my favorite when I don’t feel like making any at home with this kale chip recipe posted back in 2011!.

My skin could eat the herbal oil up, it smells so good. I don’t use many products on my skin because of the toxic chemicals found in makeup and skin care. AnnMarie Gianni Skin Care is Organic, Wild Crafted and Natural goodness olalala!

I’ve had mine Nissan Thermos for over a decade and still love it! Keeps hot drinks warm on the road trips or sometimes I bring Miso Soup while skiing. Never leaks, keeps beverages hot for hours, just like a good thermos should.

I have used my Leatherman Super Tool for years. Along with the Nissan Thermos above it has been my trusted tool in the woods. You will always have a knife and screwdriver around with this multitool.

Love the Leatherman!

I hope you enjoyed the Holiday Gift Guide for Healthy People.

May you receive exactly what you desire and give some healthy gifts to Inspire.

Happy Holiday!

In Love and Service,

Sue Thomas

Note: In some cases I receive a commission when you buy though a link on this website. Your price is the same, but we receive a small referral fee. If you are reading this, THANK YOU. I appreciate your support, it helps fund this blog and continue our mission to make healthy living fun and delicious.

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I am a positive person and don’t want to come across all negative and focus on the bad things. I work hard to see the good in people and life in all situations. I think it’s wise to choose your battles. To basically not get worked up and fight for everything you don’t like. Some things are just not worth your energy. However, some things are. It’s setting boundaries for yourself and having a back bone for what you deem acceptable.

The sunny morning of Saturday May 25, 2013 I really wanted to drive to Sacramento and join the local March Against Monsanto. I thought it would be good to see some friends at the march and get out to support the movement.

Then I realized, geez Sue I have so much work to do in the garden here with my cucumbers, blueberries and chard. Plus I wanted to start more organic seeds. My Poppa says, corn should be “knee high by the 4th of July” and I need to start the Zea Mays seeds I got from Seeds of Change.

Some GMO Free Seeds

Focus on what you want – your own homegrown food – and don’t focus on what you don’t want – resisting a huge corporation with a monopoly over the seed supply.

However, I have something to say something to protect the seeds. I need to share this blog post to honor my voice. And honor every organic farmer who has ever collected seed and grown nourishing food with sustainable practices.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the

world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

It appears we as people, have a massive threat against our food supply here in the United States.

Did you know that people have been sued for saving seed? Honest farmers, not able to collect seed for the next generation harvest.

One person I am sure you have seen on TV spent over a million dollars to protect her freedom of free speech about what is on her dinner plate.

It is time we really ask, what ARE WE PUTTING IN our foods and our bodies?

In the video below, I take you outside with me to the Mulberry Tree and share my praise for the documentary Food Inc. and share some action steps to avoid GMO’s. Click Play to Enjoy the Video!

GMOs are genetically modified organisms. Do we need or want to be test subjects of genetic roulette?

And “Big M” stands for the BIG MOVEMENT

Here is a freaky personal story from my gardening experience that really made me question my seed supply.

A couple years ago I was feeling like a tight ass and thought I would save money and buy my summer garden seeds from a big box store.

I got 3 different packages of tomato seeds. They said guarantee to grow. One package was labeled Hybrid, the other Disease Resistant and the third mentioned nothing special. So there I was with my Roma, Cherry, and Grape Tomatoes seeds and I happily tended to their growth. The plants produced like crazy and we add tons of fresh tomatoes. I did indeed notice that the skins would stay hard and tight for a long time, up to 3 weeks after I picked them which is odd, but I was okay with the fact the tomatoes stayed fresh for an extended period after harvest.

Now fast forward to last week when I am turning the compost pile and observe a tomato skin still intact.

Faded from the sun, but the skin was surely not decomposing like the rest of the organic matter in the compost pile.

FREAKY..The perfect compost, gold dirt, rich soil with this awkward foreign object sticking out that is a near perfect tomato skin from well over 11 months ago. It is enough to make me question,

“what is up?? that is not normal from my past gardening experience”

When the tomato skin does not decompose normally, what is does that mean about the tomato digesting inside me?

Makes ya wonder? What are the undisclosed costs of GMO compared to organic?

3 Things You Can Do To Take Action Against GMOs

1. Grow Your Own GMO Free Food

Homegrown Baby Roots: Daikon Radish, Beet, Red Potato

Below is a list of companies I found called “The Monsanto-Free Seed Company List”

If you see a company on the list above that is local to your area, support them!!!

2.Buy Organic Food in Season and Collect Wild Food

If you don’t have the desire to grow your own garden, you can always enjoy the fruits from others.

By shopping at farmers markets you support local business and ensure fresh food in season.

Over the past few years I have been actively gardening & foraging wild food. Hands down, my favorite wild food is wild raspberry, followed by blackberry. Collecting wild food is a great way to connect with the land.

3. Share This Post With Your Friends and Family. Join The “Big M”

We need each other in this Movement. Call it slow food, farm to fork, seed to supermarket – it does not matter.

At the end of day we need to eat. And we need each other to be aware that not all seeds are equal. The food we eat is critical to our health.

Ann Wigmore Quote

If you enjoyed this post grab my newsletter and never miss a word:

>>>>It ‘s Time to Grow & Get Your Own<<<<

To sign off, here some live music to enjoy from Michael Franti & Spearhead – Hey World (Remote Control)

Thanks for stopping by today! Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know your thoughts regarding GMO’s and what you are doing to ensure quality food is on your table.

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Some of my favorite salads have just 3 ingredients. Simple Combo’s that compliment each other. This Strawberry Arugula Salad is great during early summer with both strawberries and arugula in season.

Strawberry Arugula Salad Recipe:

2 cups Arugula greens (spinach is good to if you can’t handle the bitter!)

1 cup fresh Strawberry

2 Tbsp Hemp Seeds

Dressing:

2 Tbsp Almond Butter

2 Tbsp Balsamic

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Steps for this simple salad:

1. Clean the greens and place them in a salad bowl. 2. Wash and slice your strawberries in half. 3. Toss them in bowl and sprinkle hemp seeds around. 4. Mix up dressing ingredients and drizzle on top. ENJOY!!

May Fresh food fuel you!

With Love and Green Thumbs,

Sue Thomas

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It may be spring-time now with summer fast approaching and feel like everything around is in full bloom with the fresh scent of orange blossoms, but with sprouting indoors it is ALWAYS spring growing season. Here are 9 fun-facts about sprouting at home.

With home sprouting you can harvest all year long; summer, fall, winter, and spring. You’re not growing tomatoes that require you to wait until to its above 50 degrees at night to plant the seedlings and then water diligently for months to get a summer harvest. Not only can all of the four seasons become harvest time, but your sprouts will be ready within 3 days. I’ve even harvested sweet Pea sprouts and gone skiing to make video blog post called the Adventures of the Pea Sprout. That’s seriously good news! You can harvest sprouts any time of year!

2. Seeds Are Meant for Storage

Seeds are designed by Mother Nature for storage to store nutrients and energy for when the time is right to sprout. What that means to you is that seeds for sprouting are wonderful to have in your pantry because you can save them and sprout just the seeds you need, when you want. For example, I’ve recently been sprouting red clover and sweet pea seeds that I had stored for over three years.

Back in 2010 I bought a lot of seeds while shopping and preparing for the Sproutology Video. It is great because seeds cost less back then and I can confirm the shelf life of 3 to 5 years for organic seeds. Make sure you store them properly in a dry, cool dark place out of direct light and your seeds with last for years.

Enzyme inhibitors give seeds there protective coat. All it takes is water to mimic spring time and the enzymes inhibitors are broken down so that the sprouts will grow.

Scientific studies have proven that plants have the most nutritional value the first two weeks of their life. That is when the seed has germinated and sprouted!

Seeds are a true storehouse of nutrients that can benefit you when you travel too. Remember seeds are designed my mother nature for storage, and the old adage “the apple does not fall far from the tree” is true. Until a little bird picks up that seeds and flies away, or a conscious eater brings seeds with them to their travel destination.

Nothing else in your pantry can last for years and then be transformed into fresh organic food. Furthermore, even with the capacity to store for years, the seeds expand and multiply nutrient levels when sprouted. Talk about a safe, dream come true ROI in the kitchen!

3. Sprout Just the Amount You Need

No matter how many seeds you have stored, when you grow your own sprouts at home, it is easy to sprout just the seeds you want to eat that week.

In other words, you can buy in bulk and easily sprout ½ tray of wheat grass for yourself, or a whole tray for 2 people, or even multiple trays if you wanted to incorporate wheatgrass on a regular basis during a cleanse.

With sprouting at home it’s easy to control the amount you harvest by controlling the amount you start.

4. Options Greatly Expanded with So Much Variety

Sprouted Sunflower Pate with Red Clover Sprout in Cabbage Wrap

A home sprouter is not limited to the sprouts grown commercially available at the store.

You can usually find alfalfa sprouts and mung bean sprouts at most stores. If you’re fortunate your local supermarket or health food store may carry sunflower greens and wheatgrass. However, you probably will not find Sunflower sprouts, French lentil sprouts, sweet pea sprouts, fenugreek sprouts, radish sprouts or other varieties of seeds that you can sprout at home.

One of the best things about growing your own food is that you get to hand pick your own food. When you are the one harvesting food, you get to make sure that it’s picked at the perfect time. Alfalfa sprouts at the store are often yellowish, indicating that the chlorophyll which gives leaves green color has a low count and the baby leaves and not fully developed.

5. Environmentally Eco-Friendly

Sprouting is a technique that anyone can do to grow their own food at home. If you grow broccoli sprouts instead of buying them at the store. Think about this – you have avoided the packaging on the produce (and then from filling a landfill), the shipping from the farm to store requiring consumption of gas, all while empowering yourself as a home gardener!

Sprouting organic seeds ensures you have pure food without chemical laden preservatives. I have heard that commercial growers use a gas to pressurize big tanks to encourage mung beans to get fat juicy roots.

6. Family Fun at Home Even Without a Backyard

Sprouting at home is relatively simple with 3 basic steps; soak, rinse and harvest. It is something that even you kids can do. In the area the size of a dish strainer or even less, you can grow sprouts in your kitchen. No more excuses for not having a garden because you live in an apartment or rent a house without a big sunny backyard.

It’s widely know that cats love wheatgrass. I would love to show you how to grow your kitty some fresh grass and sprouts for your entire family!

I know a Saint Bernard that picks out fenugreek and pea sprouts from the compost pile. Everybody enjoys homegrown sprouts!

7. Saves You Cash

Growing sprouts in the home environment is a great value! If you’re looking for ways to slim down the grocery bill every month, sprouting at home is one ideal solution. One tablespoon of seeds will cost less than 50 cents and fill an entire jar with ready to eat, nutritious sprouts. Sprouting at home literally will cost you pennies per pound after you have purchased the necessary growing supplies. Being that sprouts are a concentrated nutrition source, at such a low price they really give a bang for the buck.

Everyone can afford to eat better quality nutrition with sprouts.

By sprouting at home you can grow your own wheatgrass for only 0.33 cents for a 2 oz shot. Juice bars here in California can charge up to $4.00 for that same, and you don’t know the quality of the wheatgrass. That’s a

‘Do It Yourself’ savings of over $3 per shot.

The cost benefit of growing other commercially grown sprouts such as mung bean, alfalfa, radish, and broccoli at home is equally rewarding.

8. Bring Nutritional Powerhouses Into Your House

As well as feeling absolutely fabulous in your body and full of energy, sprouts reward the mind. What other crop can you grow indoors, any time of year, with minimal space and is ready to harvest in about a week?

I personally find it very rewarding to grow my own food. However, growing food outside in the garden gets complicated when pests and other environmental factors come into play. Growing sprouts indoors in a controlled environment is so much more predictable, feasible and rewarding!

9. Don’t have to worry about dogs peeing in your garden or other pests.

If you have grown food before. I am sure you have understanding of the work involved and problems! It is not that easy to get a perfect harvest. Gardening outside you are challenged with the elements of the wild. Deer, bugs, other pests and even your pets can easily damage plants. Sprouting indoors solves those problems.

Okay. Fair warning: this post is about how to use a neti pot and contains bathroom images.

Brace yourself.

Today I am going to share with you my neti pot instructions. Someone needed to show you all about using a neti pot without being embarrassed!

But first, why neti? What are the benefits of using a neti pot? It has long been known that using a neti pot can be helpful for treating allergies and other nasal or sinus conditions.

But here is the deal folks, you don’t need to be stuffed up to benefit from using a neti pot.

That would be like only showering when your skin started to itch.

Nasty!

I use my mine for regular cleaning to flush out the collected pollen and pollutants.

Click play on the video below to see my personal neti pot demonstration. By clicking the video below, you will be taken over to YouTube.

I will take you inside my bathroom ;0)

Think about how good you feel after a nice shower. The awesome clean feeling. Well don’t neglect to cleanse other parts of your body too. Use a neti pot to cleanse the sinuses and enjoy a really good deep breath.

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One evening I saw my mother beating the back of a red fruit for the seeds to come out.

She was whacking on a pomegranate like I have never seen.

She said, “that is how it was done on TV… I want to eat a pomegranate”.

Later I watched the episode and understood why beating the pomegranate seemed like a good idea.

I still prefer to use a sharp knife to cut open a pomegranate and get the seeds out.

The red seeds are little jewels!

Watch the video below for the benefits of pomegranate and a kitchen demonstration on how to eat a pomegranate.

Click play and enjoy a Pomegranate!

A superfood indeed!

Pomegranates Benefits:

• Helps you burn fat and speed up metabolism
• Good Sugars that will not spike your blood glucose levels
• Lowers bad cholesterol and helps to regulate blood pressure
• Has been shown to lower the risk of prostrate cancer

The best way to eat pomegranate seeds is in a salad or fresh juice. Yumm!

How to Eat a Pomegranate

Step 1: Cut off the ends and then slice the pomegranate into 4 sections.

Step 2: Fill up a bowl with water and submerge the pomegranate sections. Gently remove the white pith and the ripe pomegranate seeds will fall out into the water.

Step 3: Drain the water and use the seeds right away or store in a Tupperware for a delicious salad!

Be sure to pick up a pomegranate the next time you see one. The health benefits of pomegranate can be enjoyed when you eat the superfood!

Please share this post with your friends if you enjoyed it and feel free to leave a comment below. Do you like pomegranates? Have a pomegranate recipe you adore?

Enjoy good health with good food!

Be Well,

Sue Thomas

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